<p>Welcome to Cal!</p>
<p>welcome to Cal indeed.</p>
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<p>This thread DOES represent Berkeley in a sense though. There were reasonable people, intelligent people, people yelling indiscriminately about unequal opportunity, people telling those guys they’re fools, people being arrogant and snobbish against others with possibly less academic qualification.</p>
<p>You’re going to find that at Berkeley, and you’ll find plenty of snobbery of various varieties at other schools too. </p>
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<p>Cavilier, I think avoiding weeders is perfectly fine. I don’t see why you’d care if they shy away from them, especially when they can do it often anyway by using AP and CC credits gathered before enrollment. There are plenty of other good courses probably better worth worrying about.</p>
<p>Also, to your second point - CC students take classes and do well to transfer to Berkeley. So do the frosh admits - their high school classes. Both undergo a competitive process at some point.</p>
<p>Just because they are fulfilling a weeder with CC credit doesn’t mean Berkeley students have to worry less about GPA - they are REQUIRED to take courses at Berkeley too. Further, you’re forgetting the people to whom this weeder business really appeals is the premeds. They’re the ones who really have to take the weeders in some form. Sakky wants equal opportunity for them to take CC versions, as compared with the transfers. These guys will take the CC class GPA seriously, I imagine. </p>
<p>The rest of us are in a totally different boat. Many of the rest don’t worry about weeders, because Cal will let you substitute different [more advanced] courses for them if one really already has learned the material and feels comfortable with it. And for engineering, people do take the weeder engineering classes anyway, because there’s not really much comparable outside in a CC or high school.</p>
<p>so glad my bf rejected cal for ucla (and cal offered more money). ugh. over here no one gives two ****s where you’re from… it’s all about where you’re going.</p>
<p>Plus, we have the sun. And, I believe, a lower suicide rate. Jane, I hope you pick LA… we <3 transfers.</p>
<p>That any college would have a suicide rate is ridiculous. </p>
<p>Maybe the CC transfers are smarter than the freshmen admits for taking the “easy route” eh?</p>
<p>Why is it so ridiculous for a college to have a suicide rate? I don’t think there is any 4 year school that doesn’t have suicides.</p>
<p>I don’t know if they are smarter…there is this one transfer that had a 3.25 from CC so unless you’re sporting a 4.0, which I don’t think you have, than you can’t be calling us dumber than transfers…a 3.25? I think you know who I’m talking about.</p>
<p>is that your nasty inferiority complex creeping up again?</p>
<p>so what if your heart is two sizes smaller, your ego three times as inflated and your view of the subpar is skewed? you’re a Golden Bear!</p>
<p>proud with yuppiness. go you! yay!
:)</p>
<p>I know, I can’t handle this wretched subparness in the size of my heart. Oh well at least you realized the fact that I’m a big deal and that’s all that matters. Excuse me as I let my dwindling heart go get a part time job in the army, heck this “circumstance” might get my subpar heart into Harvard med.</p>
<p>hahaha wow get over yourself kid. </p>
<p>why would Harvard med want a student with a subpar heart from subpar Berkeley? that’s ridiculous.</p>
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<p>The hypocrisy and foolishness of this post basically make my head explode. I guess I should wander back to ol Canada and take my “bigoted values” with me (gay marriage? universal health care? OH MY!)</p>
<p>Back on topic however. I’m not saying that this thread was a good idea, because it makes us Cal students look like *******s. But there is no denying that there is some truth resonant within its premise. As many have pointed out, it simply isn’t fair that many people did nothing in high school, went to a CC, and get into Cal. I know that the premise of the CC transfer program is to help underprivileged, intelligent people, but all too often, I see some transfers in my classes and it seriously makes me wonder how they managed to get in (One asked a GSI what a thesis statement was, for example).</p>
<p>But transfers are important to the UC system, because they DO add more diversity to campuses, and some truly end up becoming stars (a CC transfer just won the Unviersity Medal :)). And I’ve made some awesome transfer student friends, and they’re some of the most intelligent people I know. They’re given a bad rep as a whole, I think, similar to a URM. URM’s are frequently thought of only being able to attend a school based on their race, and thus, have negative preconceived notions attached to them(athlete, low socioeconomic bg etc.). </p>
<p>All in all, it’s unfair to generalize, on both ends. Neither “group” has really represented itself that well in this thread, to be honest.</p>
<p>I’m a transfer student and I haven’t experienced any prejudices here (from students at least). That’s why I am a little surprised by this thread. Well, I am an engineering major and it’s required for us to talk to our advisor every semester before enrolling in classes. After I got all A+'s and A’s my first semester in rather challenging classes, he said “Oh, you’re a smart transfer student.” I didn’t really know what to say, and I was just laughing.</p>
<p>I agree that transfers are on average not as academically “smart” as freshman admits. Come on, that’s not secret and it’s okay to say it out loud. I’ve met plenty of transfer where I thought “How could these people get in here? I don’t wanna go to the same school as them…”. On the other side, I’ve also met freshman admits, particularly one with a 2400 SAT and perfect GPA, who was just, well, not very smart. He barely passed an easy class I was taking with him.</p>
<p>Still, success in life is not about academic smartness. Many transfer students I have met are much more mature and diligent than most freshman admits who can’t handle being independent. A lot of freshman admits mess up their life with excessive drinking, partying, weed, etc, because it’s the first time they have the freedom to do so. Most transfer students on the other hand realize that they have been given a great 2nd chance and do everything to be successful. My friend, a transfer student, is majoring in something that is said to be very easy. Still, she is studying extremely hard to get good grades even though her classes are, well, not very challenging for most people. She may not be as “smart” as many others but she’ll probably be more successful than other people, mostly freshman admits, who don’t care.</p>
<p>I agree with that the average GPA of transfer students is higher because they can bypass the weeders, at least for most of them. Yes, it’s an advantage. But what about all the advantages freshman admits have over transfer students?<br>
- Freedom in choosing courses for fun. Transfer students are often pressed for time and cannot take many (or even any) classes outside of their curriculum they would like to take. That’s what is happening to me, actually. There are many courses that sound really interesting but I just don’t have the time.
- Time to build relationships with professors and do research. Again, transfer are pressed for time and do not have equal opportunities. Also, professors will prefer freshman admits over transfers to work for them. Why? Well, the reasons should be obvious from this thread.
- Time to get internships, work experience. Again most transfer need to take summer classes in order to catch up.
- “Real” College experience.</p>
<p>There are probably many more advantages freshman have and I am just lazy to write them out now, because this post is already to long and I need to get back to work.</p>
<p>The advantage of the little GPA boost transfers get by bypassing weeders (how many classes out of the total # of classes you take are actually weeders? Right, not many) is much less than the advantages freshman admits have over transfers. Who do you think will have a better chance to be employed?
- Freshman admit with a 3.4 GPA, double major, done research with professors, internships, participated in student clubs, etc
- Transfer student with a 3.6 GPA and a CC background. Many employers will look down on the CC background as well.</p>
<p>So when talking about unfairsness please keep the big picture in mind and that freshman admits will likely be better of later, even with a slightly lower GPA. In the end it’s all about what you make out of the opportunities you get.</p>
<p>Afc, I never said my experience was better than anyone else’s. I was just saying that because how easy the CC classes were, I was able to do things that freshman admits probably won’t ever be able to do. I’ve been to Chile and Haiti for earthquake relief. I’ve been to 22 countries over 5 continents, 32/50 states in the USA, and been to both Iraq and Afghanistan on a volunteer not voluntold basis. I was able to do all of that on the government’s checkbook AND got paid well at the same time while securing one of the best education benefits in the world. Is all that worth trading for 2 years of “real college” experience? Nope.</p>
<p>Getting drunk at a greek frat party, or protesting UC tuition rate hikes will never hold a candle to getting drunk at a greek party… in Greece, or wining and dining women in Paris, or protesting against human rights violations in Rwanda.</p>
<p>tl;dr</p>
<p>i have better things to do with my time than to read through this dribble…obviously some of you don’t</p>
<p>yesss! so happy about my grades</p>
<p>Everyone who feels that it is so unfair to be able to transfer from a CC to a UC so “easily”, read this!! IT IS TOTALLY FAIR!</p>
<p>Sure, some of you might have worked your butt off in high school to get into a UC, but THAT WAS YOUR CHOICE. Nobody forced you to struggle so much. </p>
<p>ANYONE could smoke their brain out and drink their liver away all through high school and decide during senior year to attend a CC. That is an option available to EVERYONE and anyone. So, why are their people still complaining? It’s not like the transfer system discriminates against anyone. Is the opportunity to transfer not given to everyone? </p>
<p>I think the only reason some people hate on transfers is
because they start to feel that the pride in saying “I attended a UC straight from High school” is not worth the work that they had to put out. </p>
<p>feel free to poke holes in my philosophy. i would love to argue on this thread like ignorant racists argue on Youtube. =)</p>
<p>^^tl;dr…</p>
<p>quoted from CURI0US</p>
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<p>Actually, you smoke your lungs out, not your brain.</p>
<p>Just had to clear that up.</p>
<p>someone on this forum hasn’t ever smoked weed…</p>
<p>Who the hell is this imposer stealing my user-name, dammit?!</p>
<p>And yeah somebody hasn’t been so high that their body starts to tingle, feeling weightless like your brain is completely gone and start to drift in the night sky :D</p>
<p>lonesouI, I actually agree with you, because my version of the “college experience” is not getting drunk, smoking, etc. Yes, your experience would be much more fulfilling than such self-indulgence.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I would prefer to participate in research, continue practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and get good grades. If your experience was ideal for you, excellent, I’m glad you have the experiences.</p>
<p>My point is simply that a lot of the time, just because you have done so much, and have “real world experience” and it was perfect for you, doesn’t necessarily mean your experience was any more fulfilling than someone who stayed at home, or at college and did what they loved. (This point is not aimed directly at lonesouI, it is aimed at those who have made the point that transfers have “better experiences” than freshman admits.</p>
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<p>hmmm, would i have been better off going to merced for two years and transferring to la/berk from there?</p>